Lifetime
by magi06rose
Summary: because they had, and have everyday to show their love to each other. A late Valentine's day and post reveal fic.
1. Lifetime

***Rewritten* Slightly more fluff, plus a bunch of changes in transition and grammar (hopefully). Cause after reading this again, I just had to rewrite it. if you read it, you can read it again if you like. Just for all of you, I made another chapter as a bonus! Love you all (cause love is nice)!**

Hi guys. I think i finally have my fanfic mojo back! I've been so busy with school, there's barely anytime for me now to write stuff especially since I just changed majors. I now feel that if I can type this, I can finally go back to Moonlit Dance.

Also, for those that have yet to see or heard of it, I got a tumblr now. I will be posting stuff about my fanfics there, as well as some other stuffs like episode reviews and reblogs. It's under the same name as this, magi06rose, so check it out, message, and/or follow me.

Finally there are 2 interesting facts of this fic I want to share. First, about a quarter to a half portion of this fic was originally the epilogue chapter of Fated Promise, but I scrapped it out. It truly was originally going to be a reveal chapter, but I was blanked out on the progression to the reveal, and I had more interest writing about Adrien more. Second, I was planning on releasing it on Valentine's day, but I was too immersed in Digimon Cyber Sleuth and it felt more meaningful to release it after the holiday (and you'll see why later (; ).

Enjoy!

* * *

Snow starts to gently fall down from the sky as the stars illuminate the dark sky. A black clothed figure swiftly jumps across the Parisian roofs, trying his best not to gather attention from the citizens below him. His legs take him to a certain roof, where he let himself in through unhinging the trap door and into a pink room. Once he was in, he stealthily and slowly walks down the stairs, looking around to find its occupant with a big warm-looking blanket covering herself and her attention to the window in front of her. Though momentarily he was disappointed seeing the thing woefully hiding her lovely figure, he smiles at her presence and more so as he got closer to the girl, taking a peek from the sides of her peaceful smile.

"Hello Princess" Chat Noir says in a low voice close to her ear. _As expected_ he thought, the girl was utterly surprised by his greeting, but didn't expect what happened afterwards.

"Wah!" she shouted, bringing her hand that made contact to the black-clothed figure's cheek. Hard. Chat Noir fell back to the chaise, tumbling down on the floor and hitting his head in the process.

"Meowch!" Chat cried out. This made the resident of the room, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, recognized who sneaked up on her and ran to the feline hero.

"Chat! I-I'm so sorry" she says, pulling him back up to the chaise with her before lightly hitting his arm.

"I told you to stop going behind me like that! -sigh- What am I going to do about you?" she pouts at him. Yet again, she gets surprised when she hears the cat-man chuckle to himself as he rubs his cheek before appropriately looking at her.

"My apologies Princess. It was not my intention to scare you like that, but I couldn't help myself at the mew-ment. You're just sim-purr-ly adora-paw-l" Chat says showing his cat-like grin. Marinette groans, reminding herself how she gave up who knows how long ago of the cat puns, until she lets out a small smile.

"Silly kitty cat." Marinette proceeded to kiss Chat's other cheek. "Wait here. I think I have some cooling pads in my first aid kit."

She gets off the chaise to look head to her desk while Chat smiles, de-transforming back to his civilian form, Adrien Agreste. Marinette and Adrien were Paris' greatest crime-fighting duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir, saving the city from their common foe, Hawkmoth and his Akumas. Despite the two never knew each other's identities, plus Marinette's one-sided crush on Adrien and Adrien as Chat liking Ladybug, they were partners and each other's best friends.

Eventually, they came to give more attention to each other's other identities. Barriers start to crumble when Adrien started to see Ladybug-like actions on his shy classmate and Marinette seeing beyond the mask of Chat Noir. The two feared of losing each other, thinking there were 4 people in a complicated love square and unable to take the risk of learning each other's secret double lives. However, when one fateful accident made each other learn the truth, the fear turned into relief and happiness.

"By the way, would you happen to have some cheese around here?" asks Plagg, Adrien's kwami, as he flew towards Marinette. Another small flying figure, Marinette's kwami Tikki, flies up next to Marinette with an annoyed look on her face.

"Plagg, you cheese loving glutton," Tikki groans, though Plagg still twirls at the thought of his favorite dairy product.

"Hehe- In the tupperware at my desk. Let me go open it for you first." Marinette replies giggling at Plagg's actions as Adrien smiling at her reaction.

Sure it shocked to two teens beyond human comprehension (or what it felt like to them), but nevertheless they took it slowly to explore the new feelings together with their kwamis, Tikki and Plagg. They continued the late night visits and talks during breaks in school. Marinette, as you can tell, started storing cheese inside her desk for Plagg while Adrien kept a tin of cookies on his coffee table. Their friends had yet to ask the change of attitudes around each other (though Alya and Nino had their suspicions here and there). Even when Adrien decided one day to ask Marinette on a real date and later having an actual boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, they decided to keep it a secret until they felt were surely ready.

Marinette sits back on the chaise next to Adrien with a cooling pad in her hands. "By the why, I thought you were busy tonight." She says, pulling out the wrapper as she looks back at her boyfriend. "Didn't you say you had a party tonight thanks to your dad?"

Adrien winced at the sudden contact when Marinette started applying to it, but eventually he felt soothed by the coolness and the touch of his lady's fingertips. As Marinette was retracting back her hand, Adrien laid his hand on hers to let it stay on his cheek after he kissed her palm, making the girl go red by the movement.

"Yeah. I was at the party a while ago until a certain kwami decided to sneak off to the food table." Adrien says, mock-glaring at his kwami who was about to eat his next slice of cheese with Tikki and her cookies in Marinette's desk.

"What?!" Plagg shouts out, seeing his charge's glare until he threw his cheese in the air and swallowing it in one gulp. Marinette couldn't help but giggle to herself again while Adrien lets out a tired groan before turning back to Marinette.

"Let's just say the party ended the exact opposite way the mayor intended it to have. Still, it did help me escape from a boring party and dancing with Chloe at just the right moment." Adrien then let go of Marinette's hand and embraces her in arms, nuzzling on her hair. "So I had more time than expected, and I really wanted to see you since we barely had much time together because of my father's schedule. Please forgive this poor cold cat, who only wishes to see his Princess on this fine winter night?"

Marinette giggles, the sound reverberating throughout Adrien's body making the boy nuzzle deeper in joy and comfort. She thinks for a minute before lifting her head to look at Adrien's emerald eyes.

"Mmmn... No."

"No?" Adrien's face turns confused.

"No." Marinette repeats with a smile.

"Any reason why?" Adrien asks.

"Well, not only did you scare me _chaton,_ and get yourself slapped in the process, you also took me away from my latest design project," Adrien looks around to room to see a very detailed jacket with pins on a mannequin, "which luckily I'm almost finished with, but still, you know how much attention I put into my designs."

Adrien nervously chuckles at the last statement. He, and anyone that knew Marinette and her designing passion, knew the hard way what happens when you take the designer away from her projects. Let's just say it's not a pretty sight, and Adrien, ironically, was lucky to be let off with just a taste of it. Adrien watches his girlfriend release herself from the embrace, missing the warmth for the moment, and moves his head to see her lie on the chaise.

"Don't you think you're getting back home anytime soon. You can apologize by helping me out with any other alterations I need for the jacket." Marinette then opens her arms towards the boy. "But for now, come here and let me pet you _mon minou._ "

Smiling at the gesture, Adrien lies down next to his lady, head fit right under her chin and carefully shifting his weight so his body doesn't crush Marinette's petite body. Both entangled their arms and legs into the warmth provided by each other and the blanket, dozing away in comfort. A gentle silence accompanies the room as time passes, along with soft purrs once in a while from Adrien as Marinette continuously switches between petting his hair and scratching the area right above his visible ear.

"This is nice..." Adrien lazily says. "If only it would be like this everyday. We really needed this, especially you Mari. You've been pushing yourself too hard these last few weeks."

"Mn. I know, but you know how much of a struggle it is to juggle this kind of life. With the akumas, school, Chloe... not to mention the additional holiday rush in the bakery." Marinette slightly pulls back to look at Adrien.

"I'm glad we get to do this as well. You seem tired, and not just from today. Have you been eating properly? You know how much my parents are worried about your body." Since learning each other's identities and getting together, Adrien started to come over the bakery more often in the daytime. Both Sabine and Tom warmly welcomed him each time he came over, and made sure he get something to eat before leaving. One day, Sabine mentions to Marinette how worried she was seeing how thin Adrien looked once he left when Marinette asked, and told this to Adrien the following night he came.

"Hehe- don't worry princess. Your prince here is fit and healthy; otherwise, how am I suppose to protect you when we're out there." Adrien nuzzles back into Marinette's neck. "It's true that there has been more modeling sessions and events since it's almost spring, but I'm watching myself. Plus, your parent's cooking is amazing. I'm always full and content each time I leave, along with an extra snack from your dad when I need it later."

Marinette lets out a sigh. "That's good, but I feel they go overboard sometimes."

"You worry too much. I really like them, and I can see how much they care from the way they love you." Adrien says. Marinette felt she heard a bit of sadness in his tone, prompting her to hold him closer.

"They also like you too. We'll always welcome you; you have a home here." Adrien pauses before gently squeezing her and moving up to her eye level.

"Thank you Marinette" he says as he moves to lay a hand on her cheek. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they already knew our relationship once we tell them." Marinette giggles at this.

"Hehe- probably. I can see my mom getting close to the truth, and then she'll most likely tell my dad once she's sure." Marinette moves her hand to lie on top of Adrien's. "Soon. We'll have to tell them soon huh?"

"Yeah. Plus Nino and Alya, and everyone at school." Adrien smiles at the moment before dropping it. "Maybe my dad as well, but he won't be back anytime soon because he told me he had some business somewhere before the party." Everyone in class knew of Adrien's strained relationship with his father. It may be the hardest challenge for them confronting the ever-busy Gabriel Agreste.

"I'm here." Marinette says, squeezing his hand for future strength.

"And I'm here as well" he states back. They looks deeply into each other's eyes, which were full of a newfound determination whether it's from being next her partner or forever knowing nothing can stop them side by side.

"We'll do it together." Adrien says, moving to touch his forehead to touch Marinette's. They both blush at the motion, but widen their smiles nevertheless.

"Yeah" says Marinette. At the same time, their lips shorten the distance till they met into a sweet and equally passionate kiss. A sense of happiness and comfort envelops the room, as though time stopped for the duo. What felt like forever until they were out of breath, the pair start to break off. Nevertheless, they had yet to pull their foreheads away, continuing to stare at each other again until Adrien breaks the trance off.

"Oh, that's right. What time is it?" Adrien asks. Marinette stares in confusion, waiting for Adrien as he pulls out his phone.

"1:36 AM. Perfect" he says, putting the device back in its original place. Marinette suddenly became even more confused.

"What's so perfect about being up this late? It's normal for us, but people tend to be asleep during this time."

"I know, but I have something for you." Adrien reluctantly gets up, followed by Marinette soon afterwards. He searches his other pocket to pull out a small black box, holding it out to her.

"Marinette, I'm really, really sorry about surprising you earlier. Still, even if I did stay in the party without Plagg's intervention, I planned on coming here for this despite when I told you I couldn't." Adrien opens the box to reveal a simple, but elegant gold ring, with one emerald and a ruby shaped to look like two halves of a heart together. "A promise ring for my lady and Princess. Happy Valentine's Day love."

It was at that moment when Marinette felt her heart and breath stopping altogether. Tears of joy started to form and dropped when she finally began to breathe again. _It's so beautiful_ she thought, looking at the accessory in front of her. Marinette smiles as Adrien moves his free hand to remove the tears of one side of her face, until she pulls away with a confused expression back on her face.

"It's lovely Adrien. Believe me, I do love it, but wasn't Valentine's Day yesterday by now? Hm? Now that I think about it, it was weird that you didn't want to do much, even with the party you had to go to. You didn't even greet me the entire day, and I thought you would be the kind that goes overboard for these kinds of event..."

Adrien chuckles, seeing Marinette's face scrunch up as she thinks of the possible reasons in her head. "Mari" he says, grabbing his girl's attention back. "What you said may be true, but then this wouldn't make moment special." Adrien moves his hand back onto Marinette's cheek.

"Besides, it's not like we need a dedicated day to proclaim our love. We have now and beyond, a lifetime to do so. Nothing can stop us when we're together, and we knew that even before actually seeing each other whether as Adrien and Marinette or as Chat Noir and Ladybug." Adrien proceeds to slide the ring onto Marinette's right ring finger, the girl giggling with a new trail of tears running down her face. "No matter what you make me the happiest cat hero in the world; no other words can describe how I feel each time I look or think about you. For now, all I can say at this moment is that I love you, Marinette. I really do."

"I-I know." Marinette say as she tried holding back her sobs at this loving moment. Adrien embraced her again, Marinette using his chest to calm herself down. She looked back at the ring, in awe at how perfect it looked on her.

 _If this is to be the greatest moment of my life for now, then what would the proposal be like_? Marinette thought in her head. Content, she looks up from the ring back into her love's emerald eyes.

"You are such a dork. Biggest one I've ever met. You do know that right?" Marinette says cheekily. Adrien laughs.

"Yes I am. I'm your dork none of the less."

"Yeah, because you rubbed off Chat all over me."

"Aw, but you know you love it. After all, you a-mew-se me everyday." Marinette couldn't take it anymore and groans, but still laughs at the horrible cat pun.

"Adrien!" She says as she lightly hits his chest. Adrien laughs, wrapping his arms around her tighter.

"Come on. You know you do my lady. Admit it."

"...Hehe- I do _chaton_." Marinette then gave Adrien a small sweet kiss upon his lips, noses touching each others. "And I love you too Adrien. Happy belated Valentine's day."

* * *

People have worn promise rings on the right hand to leave the left hand open for an engagement ring. If you want to see the ring, I'll have it up on my tumblr.

I do not own this wonderful and sinful show. Happy belated Valentine's day everyone! Stay tuned.


	2. Epilogue

...Yup, I decided to give you guys another chapter of this story.

I just couldn't help it while rewriting the first chapter, plus doing Moonlit Dance at the same time (I know, I'm such a big mess). This is much more longer with a bunch of nervous bundles and affection.

Enjoy!

* * *

Over a day has passed by since Adrien gave the ring to Marinette, and the said girl is, at the moment, pacing back and forth in worry within the privacy of her room.

"Oh my gosh Tikki, what am I going to do?!" Marinette yells out, trying to stay calm. "This is our first date and I'm so nervous! Well, I mean, this isn't really our first date, but this time it'll be out in public!"

When Adrien left Marinette's house the following morning, he had to deal with his father about the party incident during Valentine's Day and another photo shoot. While taking breaks in between, the couple, through texts and calls, decided that tomorrow, or rather today, would be the day they reveal their relationship to Marinette's parents, Nino and Alya. Their plan was that Marinette would discuss with her parents that she and Adrien with Alya and Nino would be going to the movies, and Adrien would be picking her up. When he arrives, both of them would reveal their relationship (cause the sooner the better explained by Marinette) to Marinette's parents, and then Alya and Nino when they meet them at the school steps. Even though Adrien could tell without looking at his girlfriend that she was nervous, Marinette was determined to see this till the end, until this very moment when Adrien is about to come by soon.

"This time my parents, Alya and Nino will know we're dating," Marinette continues as Tikki looks at her charge from above, patiently listening to her. "And that's good right? Then we won't have to make disguises or sneak out late at night or video chat as often without anybody noticing, but what if I mess up?! What if somehow I do something stupid that'll make him leave, or what if my parents don't accept him? What if an akuma decides to appear in interrupt us in the middle of convincing my parents or our friends? What if we can't be together and I'll be forced to stay away from Adrien because he's a famous model and I'm just plain ol' Marinette?" Marinette pauses and looks at the ground while holding her head.

"What if this was all actually a dream, and then I have to go through the entire process again of watching him from afar until I realize he's Chat Noir? What if we can never be together because he only loves Ladybug and not Marinette? What if all of this was fake and that we're just in a story made by someone in another world just to spite me for not getting closer to Adrien in our actually lives, and that they're too impatient to wait? Oh Tikki, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!"

Marinette dramatically falls down on the chaise, her face hidden in the cushion. Tikki floats down next to her, finally seeing Marinette let out her worries to her. Though she loves being with Marinette, especially after seeing her and her Chat get together, Tikki couldn't help but think how silly Marinette is being from what is obvious in regards to her current situation.

"Don't worry Marinette, today isn't the end of the world for us" Tiki calmly says. "This isn't a dream and nobody's forcing you two away from each other. Realistically speaking, however, there may be other worlds out there, and I can't say for sure if there are people that are aware of who we are and what we're going through."

Marinette looks up from her spot and giggles at that last part, now noticing how silly it was, as Tikki gets closer to her. "Nevertheless, right now you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are in love and together with Adrien Agreste, aka Chat Noir. He's shown you many times that he loves both you and Ladybug, who are the same person, and you know that since you came to love both Adrien and Chat too. Furthermore, your parents love him as well, and I believe they would be happy knowing you two are together just like what you had told Adrien when he was here."

Marinette sits up properly and smoothes out her handmade outfit for a bit. She had on a simple burgundy knitted sweater and a short black skirt with a thin brown braided belt around her waist, along with black leggings and red flats. Marinette also took her pigtails down, letting her hair flow freely on her shoulders and the right side of her hair pinned with a daisy themed accessory.

"I'm sorry Tikki for being an idiot. I just can't help but worry. You probably can't imagine the feeling, but this feels like we're unmasking ourselves as Ladybug and Chat Noir to the whole world. It's scary because it's the people I've been with my entire life, about to suddenly reveal something they've never known till now. I want this to go well – to be perfect." As she says that last sentence, Marinette pulls out the ring from its resting place on her chest. She didn't want to lose such a precious and important item, so she transformed into as a necklace using an unused chain from her jewelry box. Marinette loved how the accessory gleamed and she toyed with it with her fingers, catching the writing within the inner side that said "A+M & L+C," until she looked back to her kwami and sighs.

"I just don't want to lose him or what we have."

At that moment, Tikki flies in front of the hand Marinette held the ring in, putting her hands(?) on top of Marinette's fingers and smiles at her. "You won't lose him silly, and I don't think he'll want to lose you too. Like you said as well, you're there for him and he's there for you. Plus you have Plagg and I. We'll always be there for you and Adrien. Believe Marinette; everything will be fine."

"Thank you Tikki." Marinette says as she gently rubs the top of Tikki's head with her pointing finger on her other hand. It was then Sabine called out to Marinette.

"Marinette, Adrien is here."

"Ready?" Tikki asks. As Marinette gets up, hiding the ring back in its place, she walks to her desk chair and grabs her pastel pink scarf and her everyday purse before turning back to Tikki with a smile on her face.

"Ready. Let's go Tikki."

* * *

About a minute or 2 ago, while Marinette panicked, Adrien arrived at the front door of the Dupain-Cheng residence, trying to stay calm by slowly breathing with a basket of fruit in his hands. He decided, since today is technically a special occasion, to ditch his common outfit and look more presentable, but casual as well. He wore a black jacket that had a turn-down collar with the zipper residing more towards his right side, two zipper pockets which Plagg resided in one of them, and the his father's brand logo on his left shoulder. Within his jacket he wore a plain black t-shirt, plus blue jeans, black and white sneakers, and the blue scarf Marinette made, which he learned and accepted at some point.

After a while, when he felt he was ready, Adrien knocked on the door. He waited until it opened, and Adrien saw Tom at the other side. Tom and Sabine knew Adrien was coming to pick up their daughter for the movies with their other friends when she asked them yesterday, and thus waited for the boy until Tom attended the door and smiled upon seeing the boy.

"Good morning sir. How are you?" Adrien asks. Tom smile widens, though Adrien barely sees this due to Tom's mustache. Sometimes he was amazed by how Marinette could tell the difference whenever he came over.

"Adrien! Good to see you boy." He gestures Adrien inside, which he complies to. "But please, we've told you countless times, you can address us as Tom and Sabine anytime."

"Ah- I'm sorry si- I- I mean T- Tom. It seems that it'll still takes time to get used to."

Tom lets out a hearty laugh. "Hahaha- don't worry Adrien. I just 'knead' to remind you each time you come by." Tom was glad that he learned Adrien loved puns as much as he did; this helped Adrien relax when he realized the pun.

Adrien raises his eyebrows before saying with confidence like the Chat within him, "Well paw-don me Tom. I'll be sure to take some claw-tion next time."

"Don't worry. You'll have plenty of 'thyme' to 'ketchup'."

Adrien and Tom laugh, continuing their silly banter of puns, as Sabine walks up to them.

"你 好 (Hello) Adrien. How are you?"

"你 好 (Hello) Sabine. 我很好 (I'm fine)。你呢？(And you?)"

Sabine lets out a giggle. "I'm good as well. I'll go call Marinette down for you."

"Thank you. Oh, and this is for you and Tom." Adrien hands the basket to Sabine, which she takes and thanks him before getting Marinette.

"Remember Adrien, she cannot be out later than 8 or 11 at most if needed, call if you plan on staying later than 8 or need more time getting back, and take care of her wherever you 4 are. I'm pretty sure Alya and Nino know as well" Tom says as Adrien turn to him once he heard his voice.

"Yes Tom. I'll take good care of her. But before we leave, there is something I would like to talk to you and Sabine about. Would you take some time to hear me please?"

"Hahaha- no need for formalities here either Adrien. Don't worry, Sabine and I have time to spare before heading back down. So what would you- Oh, good morning Marinette." When Adrien hears this and turns, he was breathless at the sight of his Princess. Marinette was truly as beautiful just like her father said, and more so with the simplicity of her outfit. Also, for the first time since he's known Marinette, he sees her hair down and loved how bouncy and fluid it looked. As she walks closer to him, Adrien realizes he was staring at her and slightly blushes at the fact. His blush gets redder, forcing him to look down when he hears Tom talk again.

"You look even more beautiful today my daughter." Tom walks to Marinette and gives her a small bear hug, which Marinette happily laughs about even after he lets go.

"Thank you papa." She then turns her attention to Adrien, and blushes immediately, the smile yet to have left her face. "H-Hi Adrien"

"H-Hello Marinette." Adrien says nervously as he subconsciously waves his hand as a reflex.

Marinette giggles at the motion and walks closer till they're side by side while Sabine walks next to her husband.

"Well then, you two take care and have fun. Give my regards to Alya and Nino" Sabine says.

"Ah- before that love, Adrien apparently has something to say to us first" Tom adds.

"Oh, I see. What is it Adrien? Don't worry and take your time."

Adrien and Marinette look at each other, nodding before looking at the parents in front of them, their expressions looked neutral, but encouraging them to says what they need to say (at least to Marinette).

"Actually, mama, papa," Marinette starts. "T- The two of us have something we need to talk to you two about. W-We- Um- T- The two of us actually..."

Marinette tries to explain, but her courage failing her until Adrien took her hand and squeezed it gently. As she looks at him again, seeing him smile at her, she lets him continue as he looks at her parents again with a confident look this time.

"Mr and Mrs Dupain-Cheng," Adrien takes over "for some time now, we've been going out without anyone knowing." Adrien finally says what was needed out loud as Marinette squeezes his hand slightly tighter. "Please understand it's wasn't our intention to keep it that way forever, or that neither of us don't trust either of you or our friends. We just had some complications in our lives, and we wanted to take it slowly till we were sure about dating."

"In fact, you could say we only fell for half of each other at first" Marinette continues. "But I can say this for sure after we've spent more time together that I- I love Adrien."

Adrien slightly blushes at the confession; his confidence growing more sure at the moment. "And I can also say for sure that I love your daughter - that I love Marinette. That's why we wanted to do this properly. Mr and Mrs Dupain-Cheng, may I have your official permission to take your daughter out?"

Both teens' blushes grew, Marinette looking down feeling embarrassed and slightly guilty, but neither had yet to let of each other. Meanwhile, Tom and Sabine look at each other, as though they're having a mental conversation towards each other, before they look back to the duo, giving them their best parent stares.

"Adrien" Tom says with his deep, serious voice.

"Y-yes?!"

"Do you truly love our daughter?" He asks, staring at him as if Adrien had no tomorrow. This truly did make Adrien feel like there wasn't, nervously gulping, but he wouldn't back down.

"Yes I do!" Adrien yells out. "Marinette is a wonderful person. I've never met anyone like her a-and words cannot express how I feel each time she's around" he continues more softly, saying his mind out.

"Will you take care of her if we leave her with you?" Tom asks again.

"With all my life." Adrien says with no hesitation.

"… And Marinette, honey," Sabine calls out, making her daughter raise her head. "Do you love Adrien as well?" Marinette paused to think for a minute until she was sure what to say.

"I-I actually never thought we would be standing next to each other like this. W-we were just classmates until we got closer and got to know each other... Our time working our way of this weird relationship up to this very moment - I don't regret a single bit of it. I really do love Adrien." Marinette answers.

Tom and Sabine look at each other again for a while, the teens still red from hearing each other's indirect confessions, until they nodded.

"We just have one thing to say" Tom says. "Adrien."

"Yes" he answers back. Both Adrien and Marinette jump back a bit when Tom called the boy's name. As they wait for Tom to say something, the grown man crosses his arms before inhaling and exhaling loudly until he spoke.

"How many times do we have to tell you," he finally says, making Marinette and Adrien grew confused. "Call us Tom and Sabine when you're here."

"… Eh?" Both teens say out loud. This makes Tom laugh at their expressions; the serious aura of the room slowly disperses.

"Hahaha- You don't have to be formal with us my boy. Right dear?" Tom looks at Sabine, who lets out a small giggle.

"That's right. It's not like you're on our bad side or anything like that."

"Ah- s-sorry... I guess?" Adrien apologizes, still confused as he looks at equally confused Marinette.

"M-mama! Papa! This is serious!" She yells out, unsure of what else to say.

"Hahaha- sorry dear" Sabine says. "We couldn't help it, though concerning this (gesturing to both of them), you two have nothing to worry about."

"Y-you mean-" Adrien says before Sabine continues.

"We've seen how you two act around each other whenever you are here Adrien. We've also paid careful attention to how you care about Marinette dear."

"Now that we know how you two feel towards each other," Tom continues "we give you our permission, Adrien, to take our daughter out. Take good care of her. You do not want to see unhappy bakers if she gets hurt anyway possible."

"I will! Thank you Tom" Adrien says. Both teens were ecstatic of the news and Adrien wanted to lift his lady up in his arms until-

"But!" Tom says out loud. Marinette and Adrien look back to him.

"Because you called us 'Mr and Ms Dupain-Cheng' Adrien, both of you have to be back by 8 at the latest, and Adrien, you must join us for dinner so we can get to know you better as well" Tom orders with a smile as he wraps his arm around his wife, Sabine joyfully leaning closer to him. "You can invite Alya and Nino as well if they want to, but you need to tell us once you know ASAP, understand?"

"We will! Thank you mama, papa!" Marinette cries out to them before hugging Adrien as he twirls her around. Afterwards, as Adrien gives Marinette a squeeze before she could run to her parents and hug them, the Dupain-Cheng parents went to them and joined them instead. And thus all the worries of the world were swept away in this one moment.

* * *

As Marinette and Adrien bid Marinette's parents farewell, closing the door behind them, Tom turns to his wife.

"Well, looks like you win darling."

"I knew those two would confess soon," Sabine says with a smile. "You just didn't want to let go of her yet."

"Well she's our precious little girl. No matter how much older she gets, I want the best for her as long as she's happy with it.

"Of course, and I do too. But you have to admit, Adrien is a good choice for her since the day he came her." Sabine says, referring to the time Adrien came to practice for the gaming competition (Le Gamer).

"Yeah. The boy cares for her as much as we do. I just worry about the time they talk about their relationship to his father" Tom worries out loud. They knew the kind of life Adrien lived under when they asked Adrien about his father and his life outside of school. Both of them also want the best for Adrien, and were glad that Marinette invites him to their place.

"That may be true, but let's not worry about that now." Sabine grabs Tom's hand with both of her hands. "How about we close up the shop a little early and enjoy some of those fruit Adrien brung while making dinner? Winner's decision."

Tom smiled as he looked down to his love. "You took the words out of my mouth. 'Olive' you hon."

Sabine rolls her eyes before answering, "Sometimes I just 'donut' understand your puns." And Tom lets out another hearty laugh together with Sabine.

* * *

The crime-fighting duo slowly walks hand-in-hand out of the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie to the school steps. Silence envelops around them, simply content of the fact that Marinette's parents accepting them, until they see Collège Françoise Dupont across the street.

"I'm so happy" Marinette says out loud. They've yet to cross the street, but nevertheless Adrien looks at his girlfriend and smiles.

"Me too. I'm glad they accepted us my lady. It's good that we asked them properly rather than just say 'we're going out'." Marinette nods in response. When they don't see any cars passing by, they walked to the steps to not see anyone there.

"I guess we're here early huh?" Marinette pulls out her phone to check the time.

"Yeah. We still have 10 minutes till they get here. What should we do now?"

"Guess we'll just wait here then. It's not too much of a wait." Adrien releases his hand to move a piece of Marinette's hair behind her ear. "I really like your hair down. You look beautiful Princess."

"Hehe- I know. I saw the way you stared at me _chaton._ " Adrien slightly turns away in embarrassment while Marinette chuckles at his expression before taking back his hand and cupping it with both of her hands. "I was really worried what would happen until I came down. That really lifted a lot of weight from me."

"S-same here. Now all that's left is to tell Nino and Alya. Nervous?"

Marinette shakes her head. "Not anymore. You're here now." She beams a big smile to him, and he does the same.

"Yeah, and you're here too."

A zipper form Adrien's right side opens to reveal a small black cat with green eyes holding a piece of camembert.

"But man you should have seen him last night! 'Oh man what do I wear?! What am I going to say to them when I'm there? Will you stop holding that stinky piece of cheese up my face?!' HAHAHA~ he was so nervous pacing in his room back and forth it just made me crack!" Plagg laughs out loud, making his charge greatly worried.

"Plagg!" Adrien cries out as minimal as he can. Tikki took this opportunity to open the purse and slightly popped her head out of it.

"Plagg stop being an idiot."

"I can't help it you love bug. He even repeated everything he did this morning. Humans are so silly." Plagg retorts back.

-sigh- "That's true. Our charges are especially silly from the obvious." Tikki says back with a smile, though Marinette was astonished by Tikki's words.

"Tikki!" Marinette cries out. Tikki, however, smiles back at her.

"Well, whatever. If you too excuse me, you can continue your icky motions towards each other." With that, Plagg flies from Adrien's pocket to Marinette's purse with his cheese while Tikki giggles before closing the bag when the cat kwami was in. Their charges were lost for word of what had happened.

Adrien sighed before speaking to Marinette. "Sorry Marinette for Plagg's behavior. You know how he is." Marinette shakes her head in response.

"N-no no, it's ok really. Besides, we both know how silly our kwami's can be as well." Marinette felt a thump in her bag, making her laugh while Adrien joins knowing why. Adrien squeezes the hand under his palm, making Marinette let go of the other hand as they looked at each other.

"Do you want to sit down while we wait?"

"Sure" Marinette answers back. However, before they could, a scream sounded off nearby them.

"KKKKKKKKYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH!" Marinette and Adrien sharply turn their heads to the source, which happened to be Alya pointing at them with Nino right behind them. All for teens shocked from what they're seeing.

"A-Alya! N-Nino!" Marinette yells as she and Adrien reflexively let go of each other. Alya runs and glomps her, Marinette barely able to keep from them falling down thanks to her experience as Ladybug.

"GIRL! WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU TWO ARE TOGETHER?!" Alya makes her captive jump up and down with her as she says this until she stops and vigorously shakes poor Marinette in eagerness.

"Spill all the details girl! Tell Mama Alya how all of this happened!"

"A-Alya! C-calm down!" Marinette cries out, still dizzy from the 'affectionate display' of her best friend. Adrien watches, yet to have catch reality until Nino goes up to him. Nino runs, though not as fast as Alya, and traps the model by swinging his arms around Adrien's shoulders and noogies his head.

"Yeah dude! How could you not have trust either of us with this juicy tidbit?!"

"Wah- S-seriously Nino, how can I explain anything if you're holding me down like this?!" Their best friends let them go, letting the couple catch their breaths, before turning back to their excited friends.

"Um- W-well... how should we do this?" Marinette looks at Adrien looking for answers. Adrien smiles back and reassure her by taking her hand.

"I guess we should first state the obvious. Marinette is my girlfriend now, and we've actually been together for a while, but we were officially recognized by her parents today." Adrien says as he turns his attention back to their friends, and Marinette does the same.

"And you didn't bother telling us anything till now?!" Nino exclaims.

"W-we're really sorry you two. We just wanted to take it slowly at first until we were sure. That's why we kept it a secret" Marinette explains, managing to squeeze it out of her mind despite feeling very nervous and guilty.

"Hmn~ I guess I can see why you would want to wait till you're sure, but how did you two get together in the first place?" Alya asks. The couple again looks at each other, not entirely sure what to say until Marinette sought the answer in her mind.

"The cat plush!"

"The cat plush?" Nino and Alya said at the same time. Adrien quickly catches what Marinette was saying and lets her continue explaining.

"Remember the cat plush I bought to show and tell when we were younger? The black cat with green button eyes? I previously met a boy in the park one day and he gave me the plushie before he left. I thought that would be the last time I saw him after years of waiting, u-until... A-Adrien spotted it a few months ago w-when my cousins finally gave him back." Marinette answers, modifying the last bit as she looked at Adrien to avoid the parts of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"T-that's right! I recognized Felix, the plushie I gave to Marinette, because he was a gift from my mom. Afterwards, we just happened to meet up more often. I grew to really like Marinette after a while, and learned she liked me back. We decided to try it out until we were sure this is what we wanted." Adrien looks back at Marinette, flashing a smile towards her. "And we did."

Marinette smiles back to her boyfriend. Alya, at the moment, was so happy she wanted to burst out all of those feelings and hug her friend again, just holding back temporarily until Marinette paid attention to them again. Nino, feeling the same as Alya, felt tears forming in happiness for his friend, since he knew the best how sad Adrien was with his life before transferring into their class. While Alya was finally able to hug her friend, saying out loud words of congrats, while Nino removed the tears away with one hand and fist bumped his pal with the other.

"Congrats dude." Nino says.

"Thanks Nino." The two looked back at the girls as Marinette tried to calm her best friend down, until Alya suddenly jerked away at an arms distance, hands on Marinette's shoulders.

"Does this mean we can do double dates now Mari?" She happily asks, referring to her boyfriend, Nino, for a few weeks now.

"Of course." Marinette nods before turning her head to the boys. "If it's ok with you two?"

"Yeah, I'm down." Adrien says.

"Man, this could totally be a double date already now that both of you are dating!" Nino says afterwards, lightly punching Adrien on his shoulder. "Speaking of time, what time do we need to be at the theatre Alya?"

"Hmm, let me check." Alya takes out her phone from her pocket, quickly swiping it with her thumb until she got to her desired page. "3:15. Plenty of time to get some lunch and look around the mall before the movie starts."

Alya lets go of Marinette, and surprises the girl by pushing her to Adrien. Luckily Adrien catches her, both of them dazed until they hear a shutter sound. Alya takes a picture of the (publicly) new couple, as she loops her arm around Nino's.

"Shall we head out now?" Alya asks with a smile on her face. Nino slightly leans down to look at the photo.

"Ooh that looks good! Can you send me one as well?"

"Of course love." Alya says, using her small pet name for him while Adrien and Marinette were struck dumb at the scene.

"Alya!" Marinette and Adrien say out loud.

"Sorry _mon cherie_ , but technically, you still owe us one for keeping all of this to yourselves so don't think you can catch a break yet. I'm going to have a whole album dedicated to this day." With that, Alya decided to take another photo of them with shocked faces.

In the end, the two decided to give up before trying, knowing that the aspiring reporter's stubborn attitude will fuel her desire with no end unless she gets what she wants. Nevertheless, they smile as Marinette positions herself next to Adrien while holding hands, prompting Alya to take another photo before they walked away. As they walked to their destination, moving onto a different a cheerful conversation, Marinette remembered something.

"Oh, that's right. My parents are making us eat dinner with them when we get back, so we have to finish around 7. They also invited you too if you're available afterwards; I'm sure they'll be delighted to see both of you there."

"Aw really, you sure they won't mind?" Nino joyfully asks, knowing just as well as Alya how good Tom and Sabine's cooking were, besides their bread and pastries.

"Yup, it's totally fine. They're the ones that suggested it in the first place" Marinette answers. "Would you like to come over later?"

"Absolutely!" Alya exclaims. "I just have to call my mom, but I wouldn't miss getting a taste of your parent's cooking and stories anytime."

"Same here. I'm totally down for it!"

"Isn't that great Marinette?" Adrien asks, implying to his girlfriend and partner not just about the dinner. He knows that she knows, and her answer spoke both their minds out loud as they took the rest of the day to enjoy another chapter of their entwined lives.

Marinette lead her free hand up to her chest, her fingers grasping the shape of the ring, while she spoke.

"Miraculous!"

* * *

Punny parents are the best! I really enjoyed writing this chapter; I especially could not help but make use of the 4th wall earlier as well. Probably my best so far.

Again, I linked this story to The Fated Promise. but both can be read as their own stand-a-lone fanfics.

Hope you enjoyed it. Check out my other fanfic, Moonlit Dance, cause I finally got my lazy and tired mind working again to do the next chapter.

Stay tuned! :)


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